1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates, generally, to glove trees, and more specifically relates to a resilient glove tree having a display stand.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It has long been observed that gloves become wrinkled and unsightly if not properly stored.
It has also been observed that some gloves are prone to become even more wrinkled and unsightly than other gloves because they are used in wet or damp environments. Golf gloves, for example, can easily become moist when dew is on the course.
When wet gloves are stored without proper ventilating means, they can become permanently wrinkled and their value is diminished.
A number of devices have been invented over the years to solve the glove storage problem, and all of the devices have advanced the state of the art as of the time they were created, but the art has not yet become fully developed. The ultimate glove tree, i.e., one that is free of the limitations of the known devices, does not appear in the prior art.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,486,670 to Sutton (1969), entitled "Glove Form," shows a glove tree with bifurcated fingers. Each half of a finger member is biased in a direction opposite to the other half so that when a glove finger is slid over the finger form the finger halves are constrained to converge toward and abut one another, but due to their resiliency the bias continues to urge the finger halves in opposite directions so the glove finger is spread in a desireable fashion and wrinkles are eliminated at least to some extent.
The Sutton device is quite flat when seen in side elevation, however, and has a rigid, "open frame-work" palm portion.
Another U.S. Pat. No. 3,917,266 to Kiey, awarded in 1975, shows a one piece glove dryer of rigid construction.
A glove form having mechanical means for varying the width of the hand member and for varying the distance between the finger members and hand portions is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,018,382 to DiCuya (1977). The DiCuya device, like the Kiey device, is rigid.
A 1984 patent to Shikatani, U.S. Pat. No. 4,472,836, shows a rigid glove form that is electrically heated and which is curved to help retain the curvature of gloves formed with curved fingers.
A glove form that includes a dehydrating agent to dry gloves placed thereon is shown in a 1986 patent to Rede and others (U.S. Pat. No. 4,565,287).
Thus, it is clear that the art teaches the use of rigid glove forms. The only resilience in the glove forms of the prior art appears in Sutton's finger forms, but such resilience is merely a laterally directed bias between bifurcated finger forms as aforesaid.